The principal branch of the Bengal trade
consisted in cotton goods. In Guzerat also, there was abundance of cotton:
in Canhau, frankincense; and in Cambaia, indigo, cotton, &c. He describes
the cities on the east and west coasts of India; but he does not seem
either to have penetrated himself inland, or to have learnt any particulars
regarding the interior from other persons. Horses were a great article of
importation in all parts of India: they were brought from Persia and Arabia
by sea. In the countries to the north of India, particularly Thibet, corals
were in great demand, and brought a higher price than any other article:
this was the case in the time of Pliny, who informs us, that the men in
India were as fond of coral for an ornament, as the women of Rome were of
the Indian pearls. In Pliny's time, corals were brought from the
Mediterranean coast of France to Alexandria, and were thence exported by
the Arabians to India. Marco Polo does not inform us by what means, or from
what country they were imported into the north of India. The greater Java,
which he represents as the greatest island in the world, carried on an
extensive trade, particularly by means of the Chinese merchants, who
imported gold and spices from it. In the lesser Java, the tree producing
sago grows: he describes the process of making it. In this island there are
also nuts as large as a man's head, containing a liquor superior to
wine,--evidently the cocoa nut.
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